Fake Piñata

The debut collection of poetry
by Ashleah Gonzales

Rose Books #003
May 21, 2024

Cover design by Sarah Schulte
Interior design by Adam Robinson

About the Book

In this debut collection, Ashleah Gonzales cuts open and examines the pieces of a life as they fall. Hands full of rotten oranges, promises to ancestors, lost secrets, empty days in Paris—they begin to add up to “an eternity that’s entirely mine.” These poems sting with tenderness, intimacy, and a longing to find a place that finally feels like home.

About the Author

Ashleah Gonzales is an American writer living in Paris. This is her first book.

Advance Praise for Fake Piñata

“Ashleah Gonzales' lyrical and often playful poems will take readers in until they've completed reading the book. The only thing to do is read it again. These poems, often made of meditations, quips and insights, show the mind in process via syntax and imagery that keeps these poems close to the heart. Fake Piñata adds an exciting new voice to the contemporary poetry conversation.”

—Ben Fama, author of If I Close My Eyes

How to Purchase Fake Piñata

The first paperback printing is available via preorder on Rose Books and Asterism Books——both ship worldwide.

The signed and limited edition clothbound hardcover is only available via Rose Books.

Bookstores and libraries interested in stocking Fake Piñata, please visit Asterism Books for wholesale rates.

Fake Piñata preorders will be shipped on or before May 21, 2024.

NYC Book Launch Event

May 21, 2024:
Ashleah Gonzales in conversation with Alexandra Tanner
McNally Jackson Seaport, 4 Fulton Street, New York
RSVP here

Advanced Review Copy Requests

If you are a journalist or reviewer interested in reading an advance review copy of Fake Piñata, please be in touch via the form below or via rosebooksllc [at] gmail [dot] com and we will get back to you as soon as possible.

Press for Fake Piñata

Nylon: 32 Books We’re Excited About in 2024

“Before inking a book deal, Ashleah Gonzales was known as a famous reader. […] Now, she’s set to publish her debut collection of poetry on fellow literary It Girl Chelsea Hodson’s small press.”


Nylon: Cool Poet’s Society

Print Only · Spring/Summer 2024 Issue

Nylon: May 2024’s Must-Read Book Releases

“‘I feel like a fake piñata myself,’ she says in NYLON’s Spring/Summer 2024 issue. ‘When you open the book, you’re cracking open a piñata and finding all of these separate pieces of me that are all very different, but all belong to the same thing.’”

Publishers Weekly: Summer Reads 2024

“This book is at the center of a complicated confluence of several different sorts of lit kid cool. Color me painfully curious.”

W Magazine: The Best, Most Talked-About Books of 2024 (So Far)

“Celebrity manager Ashleah Gonzales first became known for her great taste in books. […] Now, Gonzales has her first collection of poems on the way, via Chelsea Hodson’s small but trendy press.”